So I have 4 computers, all with Win 7 ultimate and Office 2010 professional. At $208/subscription to technet, how much money did I save by NOT getting 4 Win 7 Ultimate 64 retail keys and 4 Office 2010 Professional keys? Over $500, $1,000? Actually, it is $272 x 4 and $414 x 4=$2744- $208= $2,536.
Even if I had ONE computer, this is a tremendous bargain.

I HAVE tried out software that I would normally would not have bought but uninstalled it rather than purchasing it. I am still running Win7 and Office and Home server tho. Of course, I have low scruples to begin with...

Last edited by JohnP on Wed Aug 11, 2010 10:52 am, edited 1 time in total.

OK....
As n0b0dykn0ws said, a Technet subscription is for "evaluation and testing purposes only" (that's pretty much the exact wording from the license agreement.) Under the terms of that agreement, you are prohibited from using your subscription benefits (licensed software) on 'production' (read: regular-use) machines.

That would be why MaxPC doesn't advocate it.

There is another MS licensing system that allows for production use: an Action Pack (MAPS) subscription. But, that costs a little more, is "for internal business use only", requires membership in the Partner Program, carries with it some training-credit requirements, and requires an annual renewal to continue to use said licenses.

"Can I use evaluation software received in my TechNet Subscription on my devices in my home?The TechNet Subscription license terms grant one user the right to install the program software on any devices, including those located at his or her home, but the user must fully comply with all the license terms no matter where the device is located. In other words, one user may install and use the evaluation software, only to evaluate it. You may not use it in a live operating environment, a staging or production environment, or with data that has not been sufficiently backed up. You may not use the evaluation software for software development or in an application development environment."

Microsoft ALLOWS using the Technet subscription AT HOME to evaluate it. Home computers are NOT production machines, application development platforms, or other business use machines by any stretch of the imagination. I do not understand why Maxiimum PC is objecting to the terms of the agreement that MS itself says is OK!

a) You're advocating using the subscription to get a cheap OS. The license terms clearly state the the subscription is used to evaluate products .. not to simply use them as your day-to-day OS.

b) MaximumPC is not represented by the responses received in this thread or elsewhere on the forums. In very rare instances, the editors and staff will post in a thread and you'll see their title on their account. That hasn't happened here, so the statement "I do not understand why Maxiimum PC is objecting to the terms of the agreement that MS itself says is OK!" doesn't apply. MPC hasn't objected .. they haven't even commented.

c) Many home computers, mine included, are "production machines, application development platforms, or other business use machines." In my case, my PCs are used for all of the above functions.

I would love to see you find Microsoft's interpretations of "business use", "production environment", and "evaluate". Frankly, Microsoft's only true limitation on Technet subscriptions is for "no commercial use".
According to Saint Paul du Windows:
It's for non-commercial use only. While TechNet Standard is aimed at IT pros for testing purposes only, it's only real legal limitation is that these products cannot be used in production environments for commercial purposes. So you can't run your company's web site on a version of Windows Server you got from TechNet. But there's no reason you can't run them on your home computers. In fact, Microsoft specifically says in its TechNet Subscriptions FAQ that "the TechNet Subscription license terms grant one user the right to install the program software on any devices, including those located at his or her home ... one user may install and use the evaluation software, only to evaluate it. You may not use it in a live operating environment, a staging or production environment..."
http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/totw/technet2.asp

If you "decide" that your home computer is a "Commercial site or Live operating environment" so be it, but mine certainly isn't..

MS asks for exactly 3 things for a subscription, Your e-mail address, your Live ID account log in (free), and your credit card number. MS is not exactly picky about who they "allow" to get a technet subscription and neither am I. In the meantime, I get all the benefits, including help with Win 7, Windows Home Server, MS Office 2010, professional forums, and some on line classes.

I would love to see you find Microsoft's interpretations of "business use", "production environment", and "evaluate".

I don't need to .. I think those terms are self-explanatory. Do you make money using your PC? Do you produce software (for profit or otherwise) using your PC? Are you intending to use the software or are you in the process of determining which OSes and productivity software you're planning to use?

There are grey areas, sure, but unless you fall into one of those grey areas, it becomes a moral question. If your ethics are worth $200, well "your loss" indeed.

Quote:

If you "decide" that your home computer is a "Commercial site or Live operating environment" so be it, but mine certainly isn't..

Not only did I "decide" that my computer is a "commercial site", but I declared it as such on my taxes. The savings I get by writing off my home office are considerably more than the paltry amount I paid for my MS software licenses.

Actually, I paid $200 for 3 Win7 Premium licenses and I don't use any other MS products .. so, in the end, I paid the same as you and I don't have to pretend that I'm evaluating their software.

If you feel ok with that, great. That's your call. And the magazine may even agree with you ... but I don't think that the use of the license for home-use is as easily defended as you make it out to be.

JohnP, MS rather explicitly states that a TechNet subscription licenses are not for use on regular-use machines, even at home - they're only for evaluation use. Business or personal, it doesn't matter.
"Live operating enviroment" does mean 'regular-use machine' (as in, your desktop.) Hell, even my main Media Center box (headless as it may be)would fall under that rule - it's in operation 24/7, doing its job as a DVR & media server. By no means could that be construed as "evaluation or testing."

Hence me paying for an Action Pack subscription. That allows me full-use (not evaluation) licenses "for internal business use and/or demonstration uses."
The Server licenses are used for business use, as are the OS & app licenses in use on my desktop & laptop. Those two are also used for demos, occasionally, too.
(The main MC box, though, does have a fully-licensed copy of Win7 Ultimate on it (courtesy of the private Win7 beta program), though.) But, I could well justify it having a MAPS license on it, as it could well be (and, has been) used for the occasional product demo.

Microsoft does not care who buys a technet subscription, Paul Thurrott does not care who buys a technet subscription (and he has a lot more credibility with me than you guys do), and I do not care who buys a technet subscription. If MS really wanted to limit the suscription service to "IT professionals", they could easily find a way. Meantime, I have nice e-mails from MS welcoming me to Technet.

Seems like the only people that is obsessing over the terms of agreement of a technet subscription are the posters here! That is their choice.

"Can I use evaluation software received in my TechNet Subscription on my devices in my home?The TechNet Subscription license terms grant one user the right to install the program software on any devices, including those located at his or her home, but the user must fully comply with all the license terms no matter where the device is located. In other words, one user may install and use the evaluation software,only to evaluate it. You may not use it in a live operating environment, a staging or production environment, or with data that has not been sufficiently backed up. You may not use the evaluation software for software development or in an application development environment."

Microsoft ALLOWS using the Technet subscription AT HOME to evaluate it. Home computers are NOT production machines, application development platforms, or other business use machines by any stretch of the imagination. I do not understand why Maxiimum PC is objecting to the terms of the agreement that MS itself says is OK!

It seems to me you keep overlooking/ignoring the sentence I highlighted in blue? that statement seems pretty cut and dried to me.

Even if OP didn't get the point, I found this thread very useful. I was considering getting a Technet subscription and neglected to read the Terms of Service, but now that you've pointed it out, I think I'll just get a bunch of OEM licenses (except for my upcoming desktop build in case I switch mobos).

I found this whole debate very interesting. Before I go too far, the above posters are right, it is not really to be used as a cheap way to get MS stuff. But, for the most part Microsoft's main 2 things they dont want to see happen with Technet is: 1. Using it in a production environment, that is what volume licenses are for and 2. dont sell your keys or spread them around your whole family. So if you are using it at home, I dont think that you have to worry too much about MS beating down your door over it.

That being said as a student going for an IT degree, Technet is the best thing since sliced bread. Since I am using the software for learning purposes I feel that falls under the evaluation terms, but I dont have to worry about reloading the software when the trial expires. I can try our Windows 7, Vista and server 2008. I can network them run multiple servers on one PC using Hyper-V. So if you are in college, going for a MS certification or just want to learn, then Technet is a great resource.

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